In the electrical fitting art, electrical connectors have typically been used for terminating an armor clad (AC) cable or a metal clad (MC) cable to an electrical panel box or the like. Such AC and MC cables can contain electrical conductors with different sizes. The number of electrical conductors can also vary. For example, an AC/MC cable can have three number 12 size conductors, four number 14 size conductors, etc. Underwriter Laboratories Standard UL 514B requires that any listed AC/MC cable fitting (electrical connector) must prevent the armor cable sheathing associated with the cable from entering the throat (exit) of the fitting, that is, to prevent the sheathing from passing the electrical connector and thereby entering the electrical panel box to which the electrical connector is connected via a locknut or other locking device. This cable sheathing is typically stopped by a change in inside diameter of the connector itself or via a cable armor stop associated with the connector which allows the electrical conductors to pass through the connector, but which prevent the cable sheathing from passing through the connector by contacting the throat of the connector, for example.
A problem arises when an electrical connector is designed for a nominal range of AC/MC cable sizes (for example, a range from 0.420-0.610 inch) and the actual cable sheathing outer diameter is slightly below the minimum nominal range (for example, a cable sheathing having an outer diameter of 0.395 inch). Such variation in an MC/AC cable is not unusual and therefore, when such a situation arises, the manufacturer of such electrical connectors either has to add another electrical connector to its product line which has a smaller inside diameter or use a cable armor stop with a smaller inside diameter (for example, 0.380 inch). However, if the electrical connector or cable armor stop has a smaller inside diameter so as to prevent the cable sheathing from passing, problems can arise with respect to having sufficient space for passage of the cable's electrical conductors through such an electrical connector. In some situations, such reduction in the electrical connector or the cable armor stop associated with the electrical connector makes it extremely difficult to handle the largest size cable in the AC/MC range, because the smaller inside diameter of the electrical connector or cable armor stop effectively impedes the smooth passage of the larger and sometimes more numerous electrical conductors within the AC/MC cable. As such, the smaller inside diameter of the electrical connector or cable armor stop poses a significant problem for installations requiring larger size cables with large diameters and/or more numerous electrical conductors as compared to smaller size cables.
Thus, there has been a need in the industry to accommodate the variation in cable sheath outer diameter size, while providing sufficient space for the electrical conductors associated with a particular AC/MC cable to easily pass through the electrical connector. The present invention is directed to a solution to this problem.